Barcelona is one of the world’s most awe-inspiring cities. This great cauldron of Catalan culture offers something for everyone, from breathtaking monuments to world-class museums, and from Roman ruins and charming Gothic quarters to beautiful beaches. Foodies will delight in the city’s celebrated culinary offerings, and many visitors leave this wonderful enclave on the shores of the Mediterranean craving for more.
High churches
The architecture of the Catalan capital and Spain’s second largest city is one of its many draws. Among a slew of masterpieces of the physical form, Sagrada Familia is considered a defining symbol. A tour de force of the imagination, this fascinating, unfinished basilica is not without its controversy, but it never fails to impress, leaving an indelible mark on all those lucky enough to experience its glorious aspect in person.
Designed in a unique neo-Gothic, Art Nouveau and Catalan Modernist style by the brilliant architect Antoni Gaudi, the building is blessed with intricate details and organic shapes. Following his death in a car crash in 1926, other architects with other influences took on the mantle, and completion by the 100th anniversary of his passing was anticipated. But challenges over the years – most recently the pandemic – mean this aspiration is unobtainable.
Amazing features include spiral staircases that wind up bell towers like snail shells, a magnificent façade in which up to 100 species of plants and animals are sculpted in stone, and an apse adorned with serpents. Watch a wonder of the world in the making, as a planned 18 spires will one day jut into the sky, up from the present 13.
Another magnificent image to behold is Barcelona Cathedral, the city’s central place of worship. Erected on the foundations of a Roman temple in the heart of the Old Town, its gorgeous Gothic façade, laced with gargoyles, was added in the 19th century and restored in 2011. The rest of the building was constructed between 1298 and 1460. Marvel at the immense nave with its raised high altar and cloister graced with a fountain, palm trees and roaming geese. Take a lift to the cathedral roof to catch an amazing bird’s-eye view of medieval Barcelona.
Also within the Old Town, Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar boasts a fabulous Catalan-style Gothic interior. Stained glass windows dating back to the 15th-18th centuries allow light to enter the high aisles and wide nave of the ornate church.
Uplifting art
The nearby Palau de la Música Catalana is a fine Modernista building from 1908 adorned with an equally impressive stained-glass inverted dome ceiling. Busts of Beethoven and renowned Catalan composer Josep Anselm Clavé face off across the stage of this lavish concert hall. Of more than 500 concerts held each year, few are as uplifting as the stupendous Orfeó Català choir in full voice. Cafè Palau, which benefits from a terrace, offers modern cuisine and occasional free live performances.
Also located in the Barri Gòtic neighbourhood – a beautifully preserved area of Gothic buildings dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, replete with medieval lanes for meandering – is the Museu Picasso. Housed in five adjoining palaces, the museum charts Pablo Picasso’s artistic career chronologically from his arrival in Barcelona in 1895. It holds one of the world’s largest collections of his early works, including Home amb boina, inked with accomplished brush strokes when he was just a precocious 13-year-old. The artist’s extraordinary neoclassical period is well represented, while masterpieces such as the Seated Man reveal his sublime surreal style. Another painting shows the horse which later appeared in his famous mural, Guernica.
The bold, abstract works of another acclaimed 20th-century Spanish artist can be found in the modern, airy buildings of the Fundació Joan Miró. The output here, amassed by Barcelona native Miró over 60 prolific years, includes sculptures, drawings and textiles.
For those keen to view one of the finest collections of Romanesque art, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya is a must. It also houses a superb collection of medieval art, as well as works by Catalan artists originating from the 19th century to the modern day. Here you will also find Picasso’s wonderful 1937 ink of his lover Marie-Thérèse Walter, the magnificent Woman with Hat and Fur Collar.
Aficionados can conclude their inspirational art tour with stops at the Museu d’Art Contemporani and the adjacent Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, which display works by major Spanish and international artists. The latter, in particular, superbly showcases contemporary culture.
Ramble along La Rambla
A good way to start a day in Barcelona is to soak up the vibes of La Rambla, a central pedestrianised thoroughfare lined with cafés, tapas bars, enticing shops, flower stalls and exhibition spaces. After a morning coffee, pop into the city’s best and most famous food market, the Mercat de la Boqueria, to feast your eyes on row upon row of stalls selling everything from stacks of fruit to aromatic seafood to suckling pigs.
If you begin your ramble at the Old Port, Barcelona’s grand opera house – the Gran Teatre del Liceu – is located not far along La Rambla. Situated at this site in 1847, it has twice been gutted by fire, only to re-emerge phoenix-like, and is now fully restored. Today, it is famed for its sterling ballet recitals and symphony concerts. Further on, stop by the splendid Baroque palace known as Palau de la Virreina; it often hosts major art exhibitions and other cultural events.
The pavement of this bustling boulevard is embellished with colourful mosaics, one of which was weaved into beautiful abstract shapes in striking primary colours by the aforementioned Joan Miró. Indeed, many areas of Barcelona are enriched by street art courtesy of world-renowned names. A sip of water from the 19th-century fountain on La Rambla will ensure you fall in love with the city and always return.
Mediterranean treats
Barcelona has become a hotbed of culinary delights and food-scene creativity. Spawning a slew of world-class chefs – Fernando Adrià to name but one – the city has reinvented aspects of haute cuisine over the years. Classic Catalan cuisine often encapsulates the great produce of the Mediterranean – fish, prawns, cuttlefish, clams, pork, rabbit, game, olive oil, peppers and sprinklings of garlic. Striking pairings often feature, such as seafood with meat or fruit with fowl. For foodies craving cuttlefish and chickpeas, cured ham and caviar, or goose and pear, Barcelona is the place to be.
Popular with locals, Vivanda presents superb Catalan cooking with year-round garden dining on a tree-shaded terrace. Making use of regional ingredients, the chef’s preparations include the likes of egg with truffles, rice with cuttlefish and artichokes with romesco sauce. Dishes of the month hark back to traditional plates of yesteryear.
Situated beside an atmospheric square in Barri Gòtic, Cafè de L’Acadèmia has a beamed ceiling and stone walls, with low lighting enhancing the romantic ambience. Offerings such as salt cod gratinée with artichoke mousse and aubergine terrine with goat’s cheese are made from the freshest ingredients. Can Culletetes, dating back to 1786, is the city’s oldest restaurant and something of an institution. Located in an alley just off La Rambla, it serves succulent dishes infused with traditional Catalan cooking techniques.
The nightlife is another enticing feature of this city of many faces. There’s a dizzying assortment of bars to suit every taste, and whether low-key, candle-lit drinking holes in the medieval quarter, throbbing Modernista spaces, wine and cava hangouts, or happening clubs, they all keep the vibes on a high. Settle back, perhaps, in one of the plush green banquettes at Dry Martini to sip some of the best cocktails in town. With bars and eateries aplenty dotted along the beach promenade, Barcelona’s seafront is also a great place to relax and take in the Mediterranean night air.